History Main / ParentalBetrayal

Sometimes the villain in a work hits much closer to home than the hero would expect -- it's their parent. Yes, the parent who we've seen throughout the movie, book or show, doing their usual parent stuff and being seemingly a good guy, only to turn out to be evil all along. Can be very shocking if pulled off right.

OffingTheOffspring can either ensue after this, or be the way this trope is revealed. When the betrayal backfires, SelfMadeOrphan can be the outcome.

* ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'' has two cases. First, on the low end of this trope, is Judy Mizuhara, who takes her work for the PPB serious well beyond what could justify her open derision of her son's team. It took Max wiping the floor with the PPB's champion and securing the BBA's victory before she truly came around. The other case is Sōichirō Hiwatari, whom his grandson knew wasn't a good person but didn't know was out to conquer the world and aiming to use him as his main weapon.
* ''Franchise/CodeGeass'' has every other bad parenting trope covered, so it should be little surprise that this one does as well. The real surprise is ''who'': [[spoiler:Lelouch's lost mother, Marianne vi Britannia, who turns out to be [[LadyMacbeth in league with Charles and his plan to kill God]]]].

* [[spoiler:Natsuki]] of ''Anime/MyHime'' has this happen to her mother. In the anime, [[spoiler:it's revealed that her mother was planning to sell her to the Searrs Foundation, although after a period of doubt, Natsuki decides to believe in the mother she remembers]]. In the manga, [[spoiler:Natsuki's mother arrives as part of the Searrs takeover of the school, and Natsuki has to fight against her, although at the end of the fight, after Natsuki's mother comes to her senses and ends up TakingTheBullet for her daughter, the two reconcile]].

** ''ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily'': [[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/235391.html#cutid1 Jason Todd]] has had horrible luck with his mom too. After finding out that the mother who raised him was not his biological mother, Jason sets out across the globe searching for his birth mother. Eventually, Jason is reunited with her; however, his mother is evil. There is really no other way to describe a woman who would so willingly and suddenly betray her 15-year-old-son to the Joker to cover up her crimes and actually stand there watching him be beaten brutally to near-death with a crowbar, all the while looking none too fazed. After all this happens, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the Joker betrays her]], ties her up and leaves her and Jason in a room with a bomb. Jason, injured though he is, tries to save the mother who just betrayed him. He cuts the ropes binding her and together they make it to the door. Naturally, the door is locked. The bomb explodes, Jason and his mother die. He got better. She didn't.
** Jason believes that Bruce is guilty of this. Even after Jason's death, he ''still'' keeps letting the Joker live, and eventually replaced Jason with another Robin. It's not hard to see his viewpoint since the Saviour of Gotham apparently was ready to replace his dead son & partner without even bringing the killer to "justice".

** ''Fanfic/TheHurricane'': Proving himself [[SarcasmMode Father of the Year]], [[spoiler:Noah Kuttler]] sells out his daughter [[spoiler:Felicity Smoak]] as the creator of the [[spoiler:Brother Eye Virus]] after he's arrested by the police in hopes of lowering his inevitable prison sentence.

* TheReveal in ''Film/TheGeneralsDaughter''. The general [[spoiler:covered up his daughter's gang-rape]] to protect West Point's reputation and secure himself a promotion. This betrayal hurt his daughter more than [[spoiler:the rape ever did]]. She was so distraught that the investigators told her father that [[spoiler:he was the one who truly murdered his daughter -- the guy who choked her to death merely put her out of her misery]].

%%* In ''Film/HotFuzz'', it turns out the mastermind behind all the 'accidents' is [[spoiler:Frank Butterman, father of Danny Butterman, one of the two protagonists]]. (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "trope is here")

* In Canadian teen adventure novel, ''Jack's Knife'', a girl's father is involved in some criminal operation. He binds and gags his own daughter, which freaks out the main character (who is thinking "my god! She's your own daughter!"). When the man's partner suggests doing away with the kids, he is nice enough to suggest that doing so would be a bad idea ("we don't want to be wanted for murder as well"), but it's left unclear whether this is for selfish reasons, or to spare his daughter's life.

* ''Series/TwentyFour'': [[spoiler:Jack's father]] was a Big Bad, the Man behind the Man ([[spoiler:Graem]]) behind the Man ([[spoiler:President Logan]]) behind the Man (attempted assassination of the Russian President). Attempted to kill his son. [[spoiler:And he did kill his other son Graem for failing him.]]

** A variation. Dinah Lance saw that Sara was going to join Oliver on the ''Queen's Gambit'' and realized she was sleeping with her sister's boyfriend. After some initial attempts to talk her out of it, Dinah let Sara go through with it, effectively allowing her to betray Laurel and betraying Laurel herself through inaction. To make matters worse, she didn't even come clean about when the ship sank and only admitted it years later.

*** Drugs Thea, [[spoiler:his illegitimate daughter]], and gets her to [[spoiler:kill Sara Lance]] in order to distract [[spoiler:the League of Assassins]] who want him dead, knowing that [[spoiler:Sara and Nyssa al'Ghul were lovers]] and that this would cause [[spoiler:the League of Assassins]] to descend on Star City for revenge. It is a BatmanGambit because Malcolm knows that Oliver will intercede to save his little sister. The only way to settle it is a fight to the death. If Oliver dies, his death settles the blood debt, and Malcolm is no worse off than he began. If Oliver survives and kills [[spoiler:R'as al-Ghul]], Thea's blood debt is cleared and the leader of [[spoiler:the League]] that wants revenge on Malcolm is dead and his grudges along with him.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', we get a doozy. [[spoiler:Kiriko and Gou's father, Professor Banno, was one of the creators of this year's villains, the Roidmudes, but it was always assumed that it was a case of AIIsACrapshoot. Nope, Banno is basically [[Series/DoctorWho Davros]]; the Roidmudes' current state is his deliberate doing, and the Heart Roidmude, the BigBad until that point, was horribly abused by him and basically a case of TheDogBitesBack. Banno betrays the SCU and his own children, lets us know he sees even his own children as a means to his dark but as-yet-not-fully-understood ends, and rises to the role of BigBad. Right now, dealing with him is ''everyone's'' main concern, good guys and bad guys alike.]] HumansAreTheRealMonsters, indeed!

** An episode has a model die during the shooting of a reality TV show on a base, only for Gibbs and Co. discover that the man responsible was her agent who, while not biologically related, had adopted her as a teenager. The woman had begun a relationship with a sergeant and was going to give up modeling to be with him.

* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', Gemma continually does underhanded things to undermine her son, Jax's, relationship with his girlfriend and eventual wife, Tara. Gemma explicitly says that Tara was Jax's first love, that he was heartbroken the first time they broke up, and that he would do anything for her, making Tara the only person who has a strong enough influence on Jackson to overpower Gemma's own overbearing, manipulative influence on him. Jax loves his mom and is none the wiser to her manipulations. Gemma is so determined to control Jax that she eventually [[spoiler:murders Tara]], a move that emotionally destroys Jackson and leads to him [[spoiler:murdering Gemma in retaliation]] before [[spoiler:dying of suicide to atone for all the murders he committed trying to avenge Tara's murder]].
* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Veronica's Mum, who abandons Veronica twice and, the second time she does it, she takes Veronica's college fund for good measure.

* Gaia of Myth/GreekMythology did this to three generations' worth of her divine progeny after they pissed her off by empowering the next generation. Her first son Uranus, [[ParentalIncest who was also her first consort]], was jealous and fearful of their children, the Titans, and trapped them inside Gaia. A pissed off Gaia forged a huge sickle and gave it to her youngest son Cronus and had him ''[[GroinAttack castrate]]'' Uranus with it. Cronus eventually turned out to be similar to Uranus and trapped his non-Titanic siblings, the Hechatonchaires and the Cyclopses, inside Gaia since he feared their power. Cronus knew that Gaia would try to turn his own children against him in revenge, so he ''ate his own children after they were born.'' A pissed off Gaia conspired with Cronus' wife Rhea to save the last child Zeus and raised him to be a LaserGuidedTykeBomb against his father. After Zeus and his fellow Olympians eventually prevailed, they stuck the Titans, who refused to surrender to them, in the deepest pits of Tartarus, which upset Gaia since she didn't want her children to suffer such a horrible punishment. A pissed off Gaia then sent various giant monsters such as her youngest and strongest offspring [[EldritchAbomination Typhon]] to overthrow the Olympians. This chain of betrayal ended when Zeus and the Olympians defeated the threats sent by Gaia, proving that they had surpassed her.

%%* [[spoiler:Sarah]]'s dad and [[spoiler:Bree]]'s mom in ''WebVideo/Lonelygirl15'' are both examples. (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "trope is here". HOW are they examples?)

** The one that started it all: Lorgar was the first to view the Emperor as a god, and his Legion took longer than the others to reconquer planets because they kept building temples and proselytizing the natives. The Emperor showed up with Ultramarines in tow, made the Word Bearers watch as they tore down the temples, and finally kneel before them. Little wonder that Lorgar paid attention when he heard about [[GodOfEvil gods that rewarded faith and loyalty]], or that he'd end up converting Horus to his cause.
** Angron was on the eve of leading a GladiatorRevolt on his home planet when the Emperor showed up. Rather than help him win the day or even, y'know, bring down an OrbitalBombardment or five dozen from his fleet, the Emperor teleported Angron away so as not to lose any time on his grand conquest of the galaxy. The revolt was easily crushed, with Angron's comrades died thinking he'd run away or worse, betrayed them.

* ''VideoGame/ArenaXlsm'': In one of the endings, Kylem is betrayed by her own mother, who hands her over to The Emperor. Eve confesses this to the player via a letter, declaring that "I don't know what he plans to do, but frankly I don't care. I now plan to take my earnings, leave the city and head South to start a new life. Good luck."
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Carl Clover, a young boy who's innocent and cheery, was deeply traumatized when it turns out his father Relius nonchalantly turned his sister Ada into a Nox Nyctores, a mechanical doll known as Nirvana... and it was incomplete, and he just left the incomplete Nirvana for Carl to finish. This event caused Carl to become extremely bitter to both the world and adults in general. Making matters worse, the next time he met Relius, he found out that Relius did the same to Carl's mom, Relius' wife, Ignis, and ''still'' with the same nonchalant attitude of ForScience.
* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' has [[spoiler:Adria]], in one of the cruelest betrayals of the entire series, [[spoiler:revealing herself to be Diablo's high priestess before using the Black Soulstone, with all seven Great Evils inside, on her own daughter Leah, who she had for the sole purpose of using her as the vessel for Diablo's rebirth as the Prime Evil.]]
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' features Zeus betraying his son, Kratos out of fear that Kratos would kill him and usurp his throne as ruler of Olympus, taking into evidence Kratos' destructive behavior and scorn towards the gods out of their refusal to erase his nightmares about his slaughtered family. Zeus does this by taking some of Kratos' godly powers and putting them into the colossus of Rhodes, tricking Kratos into giving up his remaining powers to obtain the blade of Olympus, and then wounding and murdering Kratos. Of course, Kratos is healed and swears vengeance on Zeus, setting off a series of events where Kratos personally murders the vast majority of the Olympian gods ''and'' Titans over the course of this game and the next.
%%* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' has Dart's father turn out the be the BigBad. [[spoiler:It turns out he was possessed by Melbu Frahma, but still.]] (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "trope is here" and evil parent alone does not Parental Betrayal make)

* ''VideoGame/MyLovelyDaughter'': [[VillainProtagonist Faust]] creates all of the homunculi, who address him as "daddy" and can grow very attached to him. But this attachment only goes one way; Faust doesn't even ''hesitate'' to kill any of them, seeing them as nothing more as a living resource from which he can harvest souls and affinities.

** In ''VideoGame/SilentHillHomecoming'', [[spoiler:the descendants of the town founders all killed their kids as a sacrifice, except for Alex's parents. They had intended to kill Alex, but complications arose, and Alex's dad went back on his "duty."]]

* Strongly hinted to be the case in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' with [[spoiler:Battler's parents, Rudolf and Kyrie who take the chance when the gold is found and kill everyone except Battler and Eva]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': After [[YankTheDogsChain seemingly reconciling]] with her parents, it goes straight out the window when it's revealed [[spoiler:that they want to kill Harley for a $1 million bounty]]. Harley is [[EvenEvilHasStandards so disgusted]] she doesn't even bother to kill them.

* "WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated It happen to [[spoiler:Fred]] two times![[spoiler:First his dad, Mayor Jones Sr. Is revealed to be the Freak of Crystal Cove, a monster involved in the disappearences of the original Mystery Incorporated and is looking for a cursed treasure, clashing with the current Mystery Incorporated as well. He is also not actually his biological dad, having kidnapped him to use him as a bargain chip against his real parents, who where members of the original gang, to make them leave town. Then when his real parents return, they also betray him to join the evil Professor Pericles in the search for the treasure, being willing to manipolate and even try to kill their son more then One time]]

* "WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncoprated It happen to [[spoiler:Fred]] two times![[spoiler:First his dad, Mayor Jones Sr. Is revealed to be the Freak of Crystal Cove, a monster involved in the disappearences of the original Mystery Incorporated and is looking for a cursed treasure, clashing with the current Mystery Incorporated as well. He is also not actually his biological dad, having kidnapped him to use him as a bargain chip against his real parents, who where members of the original gang, to make them leave town.
Then when his real parents return, they also betray him to join the evil Professor Pericles in the search for the treasure, being willing to manipolate and even try to kill their son more then One time]]

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' features Zeus betraying his son, Kratos out of fear that Kratos would kill him and usurp his throne as ruler of Olympus, taking into evidence Kratos' destructive behavior and scorn towards the gods out of their refusal to erase his nightmares about his slaughtered family. Zeus does this by taking some of Kratos' godly powers and putting them into the colossus of Rhodes, tricking Kratos into giving up his remaining powers to obtain the blade of Olympus, and then wounding and murdering Kratos. Of course, Kratos is healed and swears vengeance on Zeus, setting off a series of events where Kratos personally murders the vast majority of the Olympic gods ''and'' Titans over the course of this game and the next.